Cyprinus micristius Regan. Fang (1936) erect a new genus
Mesocyprinus and assign it as the type. Chen and Huang (in Wu 1977)
assign it as Cyprnus (Mesocyprinus) micristius. Chen and
Yang (2002) reject the validity of Mesocyprinus and recover it as
Cyprinus micristius.

Justification:Cyprinus micristius is endemic to Lake Dianchi and its tributaries, Yunnan Province, China. It was a common commercial species in the 1960s, but it has not been caught in the main lake or been found in any fish market around the lake for the past 20 years. The main threats that caused this decline are introduced fish species, water pollution, and the loss of habitat. There may be a sub-population that has survived in Songhuaba reservoir (3.63 km²), but this needs further research.

There is no record of this species in past few decades from Lake Dianchi. It was a common commercial species in the 1960s, but it has not been caught in the main lake or been found in any fish market around the lake for about 20 years. It may survive in Songhuaba Reservior but the population size is unknown.

It stays mostly in calm water with plenty of waterweeds. It feeds on
miscellaneous food but primarily on aquatic insects, small shrimps etc. It
spawns from May to July at the littoral zone on mud and sand. Its growth is slow
(Wu et al. 1963, Yang and Chen 1994, Yue and Chen 1998).

The reproduction and growth rate of Cyprinus micristius is low. The
pollution of the lake water, overfishing and the introduction of alien fish
species has caused a sharp decline in the species population.